1) Follow the manual for disconnecting everything, including the steering gear intermediate shaft.
2) Drain the transmission oil.
3) Make sure you have plenty of hands - I had two adult men and two strong teenage boys.
4) I do not recommend doing this at home in your garage or driveway (do as I say not as I do).
5) Good jack and jackstands are an imperative.
6) I highly recommend an engine hoist balancer/ weight distributor (you can see it on the top of the motor).
7) You will have to remove the engine subframe to get the motor out top.
8) Brake master cylinder does NOT have to come out but it is tight.
IMG_5252.jpg 2009-02-22
Doing this at home required some improvisation. Originally I thought I would use an engine bar to lower the powertrain (still attached to the subframe) to the garage floor. So I disconnected everything as the manual said - including the ball joints, tie rod ends, and steering column intermediate shaft.
Then I had the bright idea to cherry pick it - which would have worked but the studs on the trans mount were too long. I guess I could have pulled the trans mount off, but I went ahead and dropped the subframe so there would be no question of clearance.
You see that the power steering pump is still attached to the gear. To separate the power steering hoses from the engine wiring harness requires disconnecting the rear O2 sensor (the one under the passenger compartment) and feeding that wire toward the front.
Disconnecting the ball joints required a long pry bar. The tie rod ends were persuaded by careful application of a air hammer and pointed tip. Emphasis on careful.
IMG_5251.jpg 2009-02-22
My little trailer was a handy cart. Here you can see how compact the transmission is.
Seeing the axle outlet reminds me - to get the driver's side axle out, use just a pry bar. A long one. And make sure you brace it so it doesn't gouge tye trans case. But all it takes is a good hard push.
On the passenger's side it takes both a pry and a few moderate whacks on the cv joint with a deadblow hammer. I removed the bracket for the wiring harness to make that happen.
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As they say on MythBusters, "Well, there's ur problem!"
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The cover was a real bear to push up to gain access to the pinch bolt. Looking forward to trying to line it all back up when it goes back together.
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Always a good idea to wire it up out of the way to take stress off the hose joints.
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But can you see the problem?
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Uh-oh
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This motor has secondary air injection. Nothing a couple of block-off plates won't fix.
IMG_5254.jpg 2009-02-22
There is a bolt that is a bear to see when installed that holds the engine to the transaxle. Unlike the other bolts, this one goes in from the engine side. Watch these series of pix as we follow the camera around to the front of the engine.
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Nice view of the sensors at the front of the engine. These need to be disconnected - somewhat by feel when it is installed. The nasty oil leak this motor had didn't help.
We are going to be looking from the front of the engine to the rear, under the exhaust manifold.
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Patience
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There it is - just right of center of the photo, below (to the right in the photo) of the manifold. You can see 3 1/2 sides of the hex head - one of the points is at the 12:00 o'clock position.
I didn't know where this bolt was, and couldn't see it with the motor in the car, but know that I know where it is, I imagine it could be reached with a long extension and a swivel socket.
Maybe you can pull the motor alone.
IMG_5270.jpg 2009-02-22